As marketers, we have been friends with data for decades. As the conversation has evolved and capabilities have grown, we have experienced excitement for data’s potential yet concern for both actionability and privacy, which is inherent to data’s increased sophistication and collection.

At KSV, we believe in being thoughtful, careful and 100 percent customer focused in terms of how we collect and activate data for our clients. The North Star for us with respect to data is customer centricity. How can we help our clients improve satisfaction for their residential and commercial customers via data-driven interactions? This is the key question that guides our team and its strategic use of data.

As the first anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s aftermath approaches, the United States is bracing itself for yet another dangerous hurricane season. As we write this, Hurricane Florence is making its way to the Carolina coast.

A decade ago, wind energy mostly meant giant investments, ugly legal battles and major public opposition. As recently as 3 years ago, we saw proposals in many states—good proposals by respected companies—being tossed out. Lack of public support combined with weak political legs dragged the highly visible CapeWind project through the dirt from its initial approvals in 2005, to 2017, when it was finally shut down and deemed defunct.

The utility of the future is a hot topic for our clients in the energy space. What will it look like? Who will be steering the ship and who will be struggling to stay afloat? Transportation is a major part of that conversation, and no companies have upended the transportation industry more than Uber and Lyft. The American dream of automotive independence is being challenged in many cities where it is cheaper to use ride sharing than it is to own a car: New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Communities are the places we live, work and play. The places we shop for groceries. The schools our children go to. And within those communities are micro-communities. Networks of people. People who all share the same favorite lunch spot. Who all use the same dentist. Networks of new moms. Of retirees. And, over the past decade, networks of folks with ever more niche tastes.

A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to present at the AESP Digital Conference on customer engagement.

It was a great day with some awesome presentations and presenters.

KSV actually had the chance to present during two sessions, one on millennials (you can download our millennial brief
here and hear more about millennials when we speak at the BECC conference in October). The second was about targeting large C&I customers with native advertising and we co-presented with our client, Erin Motta from National Grid.

On a daily basis, consumers are giving you insight into exactly what is going on in their lives. They’re telling you what they need, what they’re interested in, and the information they’re seeking to make a potentially bigger decision or investment down the road.

(Just kidding, that sounds awful. We know you get enough of that on your Facebook newsfeed.)

But in seriousness, this year marks an election that is largely based on the voters of the Rising American Electorate – the new American majority of voting-eligible citizens. They will make up a majority of voters for the first time this year.